Interesting Information
SOCIAL NETWORKING
By Stephanie S. Saunders
Everyone knows that you are what you eat. But what if you actually are what your friends eat? What if obesity was not hereditary, but contagious? Sure, it’s easier to blame your parents for that sort of thing. After all, why wouldn’t the size of your hips be the result of bad genes? But a few years ago, two scientists published an extensive study of 12,067 people in the New England Journal of Medicine that seems to prove that we are directly affected by the habits of others. Read More
Sore, Hungry, and Slow: 3 Signs That Show Your Program Is Working
By Steve Edwards
Exercise makes us feel great. It makes us less hungry. It helps us perform everyday tasks better. Besides our health and the way we look, feeling great, being less hungry, and performing better are exactly the reasons we put ourselves through exercise. However, en route to ultimate fitness, there are some hurdles we all need to clear. Mainly, they include being faced with the opposite of our intended goals. Enter the trilogy of grumpiness: getting sore, slow, and hungry. We tend to look at these as negatives, but how about a little New Year’s spin? You want these feelings because they’re clear signs your program is working. Read More
The Parent Trap: Fitting in Time for Fitness
By Denise Michelle Nix
When most people think “exercise,” they picture themselves spending an hour hitting P90X® or taking a long run on the beach. Busy parents, with schedules crammed full of carpooling, cooking and, often, work outside the home, find they can’t even think of exercise seriously, let alone do it. Sure, once the kids are a little older or maybe on the weekend, but now? Today? Read More
Stay Fit This Holiday Season
By Ben Kallen
The holidays shouldn’t leave you looking like a bowlful of jelly. As fun as the holiday season is, it can be rough on your fitness program. Bad weather, stress, and lack of time can sap your motivation, while parties, visitors, and vacations can distract you from your workouts. It’s no wonder so many people gain weight in November and December, only to regret it on January 2nd. Read More
Celebrity Workouts: Look Like a Star without Spending Like One
By Stephanie Saunders
Most of the Western world looks to the stars of Hollywood to set the standard for beauty. People clamor to know who they’re dating, who they’re wearing, and what brand of toothpaste they use. At the top of the celebrity gossip lists is often who gained and lost weight, and how they did it. Yes, Hollywood workout methods are some of the more effective options around, but they’re designed for the idle rich, so they often come with a hefty price tag and a huge time commitment. Read More…
Alcohol Eats Away at Muscle Mass
from ACE (American Council on Exercise)
If increasing muscle mass is one of your goals, then think twice before you go out for a night of heavy drinking. Consuming alcohol in large quantities has a direct effect on your metabolism, causing fat to be stored instead of being utilized as an energy source. Alcohol contains seven “empty” calories per gram, meaning that these calories don’t provide you with any of the essential nutrients you need to build that muscle mass you desire.
Effects of Excessive Alcohol Consumption on Your Body
Muscles—Reduces blood flow to the muscles, causing weakness and deterioration
Hormones—Reduces testosterone in your blood and increases conversion of testosterone to estrogen, causing increased fat depositing and fluid retention
Liver—Creates imbalances that can cause hypoglycemia (low blood sugar), fatty liver and hyperlipidemia (build-up of fats in the bloodstream)
Brain—Cuts off the supply of oxygen to the brain, resulting in a “blackout” caused by a lack of oxygen supply to the brain that can kill tens of thousands of brain cells
Read More…
Stay Fit on the Road: The Traveler’s Workout
by Tony Horton
Travelin’ folks find it difficult at times to set up their laptops and jump around toP90X® in their hotel rooms. Quite often the people in the rooms below you aren’t as thrilled about your fitness as you are at 7:00 AM. I created a workout for road warriors who don’t want to miss a beat while traveling. The original title was “The Warrior Workout.” Then I was calling it “The Hotel Room Workout.” But this didn’t seem right because you can do it anywhere. The people in those rooms below weren’t always a fan of this one either. The new title is “The Traveler’s Workout” because all you need is a space the size of a small workout mat, and you can do it anywhere in the world. Read More (the actual Workout)…
Just Experienced Tony Horton’s p90x Plus Interval X and wondered: What is Interval Training?
from ACE (American Council on Exercise)
Lack of time is the number one reason people give for not exercising. And lack of results once they do start exercising isn’t far behind. Interval training is a great solution for both of these common problems.
Interval training involves alternating short bursts of intense activity with what is called active recovery, which is typically a less-intense form of the original activity.
The Swedes came up with a term for this type of training: fartlek, which means speed play. Not only is it an efficient training method, fartlek training can help you avoid injuries that often accompany non-stop, repetitive activity, and provides the opportunity to increase your intensity without burning yourself out in a matter of minutes.
Unlike traditional interval training, fartlek training does not involve specifically or accurately measured intervals. Instead, intervals are based according to the needs and perceptions of the participant. In other words, how you feel determines the length and speed of each interval. Read More…..
Wonder why Tony Horton is calling some of his moves “iso” moves?
Isometric Exercise
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Isometric exercise or “‘isometrics” are a type of strength training in which the joint angle and muscle length do not change during contraction (compared to concentric or ecentric contractions, called dynamic/isotonic movements). Isometrics are done in static positions, rather than being dynamic through a range of motion. The joint and muscle are either worked against an immovable force (overcoming isometric) or are held in a static position while opposed by resistance (yielding isometric).
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